Question

What does Winston assume happened to Syme?

1) Syme was vaporized by the Party
2) Syme was promoted to a higher position
3) Syme was arrested for thoughtcrime
4) Syme disappeared mysteriously

Answer 1

Winston assumes that Syme was vaporized by the Party because he suddenly disappears, which is a common fate for those who express individual thought or dissent in the oppressive society of Orwell's 1984.

Step-by-step explanation:

In 1984 by George Orwell, Winston assumes that Syme was vaporized by the Party. This assumption is supported by the fact that Syme, an intellectual and a developer of the Newspeak dictionary, suddenly disappears without any explanation.

Syme's intellectual curiosity and outspoken nature about the nuances of Newspeak could have made him a target of the Party's crackdown on individual thought and heterodoxy, behavior that could be interpreted as thoughtcrime under the oppressive regime of the Party.

The vanishing of individuals like Syme is a method the Party uses to maintain control and eliminate dissenting or potentially subversive elements within society. Consequently, Winston's assumption is reflective of the pervasive atmosphere of fear and the unpredictable nature of the Party's authority.